New Yorkers

The main drive behind this poem was my sudden realization that it’s impossible for everyone in a city to be asleep at once; so this poem could be read as either a piece of wishful thinking or a promise to wait for someone for however long it takes. Plus, I just love writing about cities, especially New York, where I hope to live sometime soon. Other inspirations for this poem range from "Howl" by Allen Ginsberg and "Sophie's Choice" by William Styron to the films "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "Taxi Driver" - all of which are set in New York.

Tonight we'll spill our secrets, but only when every soul in this city has gone to sleep, when the artists painting from the rooftops, and the young, long-legged girls on their fire escapes, and the insomniac writers in their coffee shops with pens and napkins and muffin crumbs (or at their desks in their crummy apartment buildings where they can hear the sounds of lovemaking from the floor above) have retreated to their beds, when the socialites in their slinky black dresses, and the taxi drivers who are done with the scum they serve, and the homeless men in the pews of churches have gone to sleep at last.

Tonight I shall make you fall in love with me, but only when it's so quiet we can hear the muted fluttering of a moth's wings in the darkness, the soft thudding as it flaps against the sleeve of my jacket; and when you hold my hand it will be like the heartbeat of a bird in the summer heat, and I will show you, over late-night cigarettes, that even in a city that never sleeps, we can find peace.

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when i read this poem in the magazine from february, i immediately fell in love with it because of all the references to new york - i spent two weeks in nyc this summer for the teenink writing program. love love love this poem. soooooo beautiful.